Northwest News

JPMorgan Chase will no longer charge Washington welfare clients $.85 to withdraw cash at an ATM. That fee is abolished in a renegotiated contract the state has signed with the New York-based bank to continue providing cash benefits electronically.

A Washington cash assistance client named Therese McLeod first brought the ATM fee to our attention in May of last year. She was outraged that JPMorgan didn’t disclose the fee at the ATM.

“Sounds like a racket to me. Don’t we have laws against that?” McLeod asked.

A report this week from Reuters news service raises hopes there may be progress in efforts to get an Idaho soldier in Taliban captivity back onto U.S. soil. But the news about renewed negotiations also shows Bowe Bergdahl’s freedom is a key part of peace talks in Afghanistan.

For the first time, state officials have killed a female wolf from a pack in northeastern Washington after repeated incidents with livestock on nearby ranches.

Hundreds gathered in Salem Tuesday evening to remember victims of the recent mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. Sikh and non-Sikh speakers at the candlelight vigil emphasized peace and unity. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman spoke with some of those who attended the vigil.

Malheur County has the highest poverty rate in Oregon and the tenth highest in the U.S. Oregon Public Broadcasting's Amanda Peacher spoke with some of the county’s low-income residents, and filed this report on how they’re making ends meet.

The race for Washington secretary of state this November appears to be a battle between Republican Kim Wyman and Democrat Kathleen Drew. Wyman, the only Republican in the race, swept the map with 39 percent of the vote in Tuesday night’s primary. Democrat Drew pulled in 21 percent at last count. Correspondent Jessica Robinson has more.

Early primary totals indicate that two advocates for defendants’ rights could compete for the open seat on the Washington supreme court: Sheryl Gordon McCloud and Richard Sanders. KUOW’s Amy Radil reports.

Four candidates had sought to replace retiring supreme court justice Tom Chambers. They included longtime King County Superior Court judge Bruce Hilyer, and former Pierce county executive John Ladenburg. But primary night totals showed appellate defense lawyer Sheryl Gordon McCloud and former state supreme court justice Richard Sanders in the lead.